Dr KARL SHUKER

Zoologist, media consultant, and science writer, Dr Karl Shuker is also one of the best known cryptozoologists in the world. Author of such seminal works as Mystery Cats of the World (1989), The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the 20th Century (1993; greatly expanded in 2012 as The Encyclopaedia of New and Rediscovered Animals), In Search of Prehistoric Survivors (1995), The Unexplained (1996), Mysteries of Planet Earth (1999), The Beasts That Hide From Man (2003), and more recently Extraordinary Animals Revisited (2007), Dr Shuker's Casebook (2008), Karl Shuker's Alien Zoo: From the Pages of Fortean Times (2010), Cats of Magic, Mythology, and Mystery (2012), Mirabilis: A Carnival of Cryptozoology and Unnatural History (2013), Dragons in Zoology, Cryptozoology, and Culture (2013), A Manifestation of Monsters (2015), Here's Nessie! (2016), and what is already considered to be his magnum opus, Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors (2016), his many fans have been badgering him to join the blogosphere for years. The CFZ Blog Network is proud to have finally persuaded him to do so.

THE PELUDA – SHAGGY SURVIVOR OF NOAH'S GREAT FLOOD

When I was
researching the first of my two books on dragons, Dragons: A Natural History, published in 1995,
a certain trio of French dragons attracted my particular
interest. For each of these monsters not only featured in its own fascinating
legend, but also was exceptionally unusual in morphology and behaviour. Yet,
surprisingly, none of them had previously attracted much attention in dragon
books. Consequently, I swiftly remedied that sad situation by devoting a
detailed section to each one, in which I recounted its legend and illustrated it
with reconstructions of their supposed appearance.

These three remarkable
reptilians were the tarasque, the peluda, and the gargouille. I have already
excerpted my above-cited book's tarasque account on ShukerNature (click here) and I will be doing the same at some stage
in the future with the gargouille. Today, however, it is the turn of the peluda
to take centre-stage, so here is my book's account of this very memorable
monster:

There
on the bank of the river Huisne, at La Fert‚-Bernard in medieval France,
something was definitely moving. Suddenly, what appeared at first to be the
head and sinuous body of a huge viper-like snake emerged from a spherical mass
of bright green vegetation, and reared upwards above it. Moments later,
however, the vegetation itself began to move, quivering as if it were a living
creature - which was only to be expected, for that was precisely what it was.
What had seemed to be nothing more than a cluster of riverside foliage was in
reality the round body of a huge animal with shaggy green fur - and what had
appeared to be a giant serpent was now exposed as this extraordinary animal's head
and neck!

It
was the peluda - a terrifying amphibious neo-dragon also known as the shaggy
beast ('la velue'), which had been spawned in early biblical days and was
refused entry onto Noah's Ark, yet had nonetheless survived the Great Flood,
and was now terrorising the environs of La Fert‚-Bernard. Its dense green
pelage partially hid four horny, turtle-like feet, and bristled with countless
numbers of spine-like quills - which contained potent stinging venom, and could
be jettisoned like poisonous javelins into anything unwary enough to approach
too closely. This monstrous beast could also kill a person with a mighty thwack
of its immensely powerful tail - and when it was sufficiently angered, a single
blast of flame spewed forth from its coiled throat could incinerate fields for
miles around.

For a
time, the peluda had contented itself with raiding farms and stables each night
in search of horses and other livestock as prey - robbing the farmers of their
livelihood, but rarely of their lives, unless they were foolish enough to
challenge its depredations.

Occasionally,
massed attacks on the beast by brave companies drawn from the local populace
had succeeded in driving it into the Huisne - but the peluda was of such
colossal size that whenever it submerged itself underwater, the river
immediately overflowed its banks, and much of the district bordering on either
side was completely flooded, thereby causing as much devastation to the farmers
as the monster's own onslaughts.

More
recently, however, the situation had become even worse, for the peluda had
lately expanded its dietary scope - adding children and damsels to its
murderous menu. Several of the village's fairest maidens had been devoured, and
only this morning yet another had been ambushed and carried away - but this
time she had not been alone. Her valiant fiancé had been nearby, and had
witnessed the terrible deed. Now he swore vengeance against her antediluvian
attacker, and he took up his trusty sword to do battle.

Protected
from the peluda's deadly arsenal of self-propelling quills by his suit of mail,
and additionally armed with knowledge gained from the village's wisest seer,
the bold youth strode forth and aimed a terrible blow with his sword - but not
at the monster's undulating neck, and not even at the heaving belly concealed
beneath its shaggy fur. Instead, he hacked down at its writhing tail, and
severed it in two with a single slash of his keen blade. Instantly, the mighty
peluda keeled over and died - for its tail was the only portion of its body
vulnerable to mortal injury.

Back
in La Fert‚-Bernard there was great rejoicing, and the remains of the peluda
were embalmed. As for its conqueror, he was acclaimed forever more as a hero,
and rightly so - after all, he had achieved a feat that not even the Great
Flood had been able to accomplish!

No comments:

Post a Comment

SHUKERNATURE SURVIVAL

If you'd like to assist me in my ongoing crypto-investigations, even the smallest donation would be immensely appreciated. All donations are non-profit-making, going exclusively towards the updating/maintenance of my crypto-archives' source material and other necessities that enable me to continue researching and blogging my findings right here for you on ShukerNature. Thank you so much for your help! - Karl

ShukerNature Followers

Subscribe To

Contributors

DISCLAIMER

In Accordance with Title 17 USC Section 107, any copyright material on display here is under Fair Use without any claim of ownership or any profit accrued by the display. The Material herein is for non-profit educational or criticism puposes only. Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 106 and 106a, the fair use of a copyrighted work including reproduction and distribution of said material as specified in that section, for purposes of education, news reporting, commentary or criticism, scholarship or research, to persons who have expressed a prior interest in receiving such material for such purposes, is NOT an infringement. Also: Unless stated otherwise, all illustrations in ShukerNature blog articles that are credited to a named copyright owner plus Wikipedia have been made available by the copyright owner and Wikipedia for third-person use under the conditions of the Creative Commons Licence. Should any copyright holder of any of the illustrations included on ShukerNature not wish those illustrations to be included here, please contact me and I shall of course remove them.

ATTRIBUTION

All original content on this blog is the exclusive copyright of Dr Karl Shuker, with all rights reserved by him, and must NOT be reproduced in any manner without his strict permission in writing.